Scottish PEN: Are We Still Charlie? President of Scottish PEN Drew Campbell will chair a panel featuring cartoonist Greg Moody, journalist Joyce McMillan and author and playwright Alan Bissett for a discussion on censorship, self-censorship and freedom of expression in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings. 7.30pm, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £4/£2 (free for PEN members) and can be purchased via Brown Paper Tickets here (booking fee applies). PEN is a non-political organisation promoting literature and freedom of expression.
St Michael’s Church Jumble Sale: 7pm, St Michael’s Church, 1 Slateford Road. donations can be dropped off at 6pm on Thursday 19th February.
LGBT Women’s Wellbeing Group. This month: I Turn To You. Have you ever had therapy? Wondering how to find an LGBT affirmative therapist? Want to share your experiences of therapy or counselling? The group is creating a safe space for explorations of what it means and feels like to have therapy, complete with feature storytellers sharing their experiences of what love and therapeutic relationships mean to them. The Women’s Wellbeing Group is an inclusive group that offers the chance to meet other LGBT women in a relaxed environment; it is open to all LGBT women and to transgender people who identify primarily as women. 6-8.30pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing Centre, 9 Howe Street.
Freeze Frame Film Club: Hobson’s Choice (1953) (U). An informal evening of flickering images drawn from classic old favourites: this month a romantic comedy set in 19th Century Salford, directed by David Lean and starring John Mills, Charles Laughton and Prunella Scales in one of her first film roles.. Free popcorn and good company alongside the Cafe’s celluloid menu inspired by the films themselves; come early and have a 3-course pre-film meal prepared by a special guest chef, or just come for the film itself and maybe a snack and a drink. Meals cost £15 per person and must be pre-booked: call the cafe on 0131 555 7100. Tickets for the film cost £2.50/£2 and can be bought on the door (subject to availability) or in advance from the cafe. Doors open 6.30pm, film begins 8pm, Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street.
Lunchtime Concert: Michael Harris (organ) plays Georg Muffat, JS Bach, Sweelinck, Buxtehude and Bruhns. 1.10pm, Reid Concert Hall, Bristo Square. Free and open to all.
Children’s Crafts: 3pm, Piershill Library, 30 Piersfield Terrace.
Crafty Fridays: an activity for children every week at 3pm, McDonald Road Library, 2 McDonald Road, Leith. All welcome!
Edinburgh College of Art Online Information Session: MSc Material Practice. If you are interested in this postgraduate programme and you’d like to find out more about it, join Professor Remo Pedreschi (Programme Director) for a live chat, during which he will provide an overview of the programme and answer your questions. 10-11am: if you would like to take part click here for further details and registration.
Waterstones Edinburgh Fort Book Group: come and join the book group, which will be discussing We Were Liars by E Lockhart, described by The Guardian as ‘a cunning, clever and absolutely gripping’ novel. 5pm, Waterstones Edinburgh Fort, 26 Kinnaird Park. For more information call 0131 657 5493.
T-his T-hat: an interactive dance experience in which children are asked to play a very important role. This fun afternoon is introduced with a story about two girls who have lost something during a journey, before leading into a creative workshop where the children join in to help to tell the story. The performance looks at the difficulty of making choices, and the possibility of failure; it also introduces Italian language and lets you explore and learn some basic words – letters, numbers, colours and food. For children aged 2-7 years. 2-2.45pm, Storytelling Court, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £5 per child, accompanying adult free, and may be booked online here or by calling the Centre on 0131 556 9579. Please remember to book a free adult ticket too.
A Bench on the Road: the result of research commissioned in 2013 by the University of Edinburgh under the Italian-Scottish Research Cluster project, A Bench on the Road tells the story of six women from 1850 to 1950, during which period of global Italian migration 25 million Italians left their country. Many thousands made their home in Scotland, generating one of the most successful socio-economic integrations on record; the Italo-Scottish community constitutes a large and vibrant ethnic group in Scotland. The play, featuring three Italian-Scottish and three Scottish actresses, analyses a whole range of issues arising from this important phenomenon from the perspective of women. A Bench on the Road is a project created by Charioteer Theatre in coproduction with the Italian Cultural Institute of Edinburgh, realised with the support of Creative Scotland and Piccolo Teatro di Milano. For all ages. 7.30-9.30pm, Main Hall, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Entry will be by donation at the door to Charioteer Theatre, but you can book your seats in advance by emailing boxoffice@summerhall.co.uk
Character In Biography: The Most Really Interesting Problem. Professor Dame Hermione Lee (University of Oxford) gives the 2015 Susan Manning Lecture. Leslie Stephen, editor of the National Dictionary of Biography and father of Virginia Woolf, wrote in an 1893 essay on ‘Biography’ that ‘the most really interesting problem – that of the development of human character – is generally the most inscrutable’. This lecture asks whether, and how, that ‘really interesting’ and ‘inscrutable’ problem can be solved in biography. Hermione Lee is the biographer of Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton and Penelope Fitzgerald. 5.30-7pm, Lecture Theatre G.03, 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh.
What if the paintings came to life? Inspired by James Mayhew’s picture book Katie and her gallery adventures, bring artworks to life by making puppets inspired by paintings. What happens next when these characters come to life? You decide… 2-4pm (drop-in), Main Gallery Floor, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed. Also at same times on Saturday 21st February.
It Surrounds Me – Part Two: Fiona Hermse hosts an exhibition of site-specific sculptures, mixed media pieces and paper forms. Private view tonight 7-9pm, then 10am-6pm until 1st March 2015, St Margaret’s House, 151 London Road.
Elizabeth Soutar Bookbinding Ceremony: the winners of the NLS creative and craft booking competition will be announced at this event, and all entries for the bookbinding award will be on display. The competition was open to bookbinders across Europe, and the winning entries will join the library’s collection of fine bindings. 6pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but please book online here or by calling the library on 0131 623 3734.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Samantha Shannon: The Mime Order. In this sequel to Shannon’s debut novel The Bone Season, Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun; many of the survivors are missing, and she is the most wanted person in London. Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of London, until the fate of the underworld can be decided. Samantha Shannon has been heralded as ‘the new JK Rowling’. This event will be chaired by Stuart Kelly. 6.30-8pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets can be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk or calling 0131 622 8218.
Cramond Kirk Presents An Evening with Art: a social evening and art exhibition. 70 paintings donated by a talented artist in the congregation will be displayed and available to purchase, with all proceeds going to Fresh Start, the Cardiomyapathy Association and Kirk funds. 7.30-9pm, Cramond Kirk Hall, Cramond Glebe Road. Tickets cost £5 each, which includes refreshments.
Bookbug: songs and rhymes for young children and their parents/carers. 10.30am, Oxgangs Library, Oxgangs Road North. Free: all very welcome!
Music for Violin and Organ: Duncan Ferguson, Master of Music (organ) is joined by Manchester-based violinist Rebecca Smith to play a selection of music written specially for organ and violin, including a major 12-tone composition by Croatian composer J Slavenski. Other composers represented include Siegfried Karg-Elert and Josef Rheinberger. In association with the Edinburgh Society of Organists. 7.30pm, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Free admission.
Stories on the Way: an evening of stories from apprentice storytellers on the theme of ‘the way’ – stories of turning points and wayward travellers. Come and show your support and join the apprentices for a spellbinding evening hosted by Janis MacKay. 7.30-9.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £6/£4 and may be booked online here or by calling the Centre on 0131 556 9579.
LGBT History Month: LGBTALENT Performs. An open mic night for LGBT young people, their friends and allies. All welcome. 6-9pm, LGBT Youth Scotland, 40 Commercial Street. For more information contact nigel.chipps@lgbtyouth.org.uk. Free. Read The Edinburgh Reporter’s round-up of LGBT History Month here.
Rally & Broad: Oh Bondage! Up Yours! A team of lyrical delighters celebrate all things freeing and chain-smashing, featuring Salena Godden, Kirsty Law and her band, Kevin Williamson, Graeme Hawley and Liz Cronin. 7-10pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. Tickets £5 on the door, or in advance from eventbrite (booking fee applies).. The Bongo Club is a nightblub, live venue and all round artistic hub owned by local arts charity Out of the Blue, ‘putting sounds of the underground and imaginative aspirations before the mighty dollar’.
Gap In The Air: composer and sound artist Agostino Di Scipio explores the generation and transmission of sound, often experimenting with the phenomena of emergence in chaotic dynamics. He is best known for his live solo electronics concerts and sound installations. This performance will be based on a series of public workshops on Agostino’s pioneering work on audible ecosystems, held during the University of Edinburgh’s Innovative Learning Week. 6-8pm, Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge. Free but please book via eventbrite here. Gap In The Air was a recent celebration of experimental music and sonic art at Talbot Rice.
Nitekirk: this ministry, rooted in Greyfriars Kirk and supported by its local ecumenical partners, seeks to create a welcoming, sacred space for all. ‘A place of welcome, a space for stillness, a pause on your journey, an open door’. 8-11pm (drop-in at any time between these hours), Augustine United Church, Augustine United Church, George IV Bridge.
